This comment sent social media into a frenzy and after the backlash from fans, the 54-year-old’s family have spoken out, saying viewers’ interpretations of the star are ‘completely out of keeping with their experience of John.’

They have since released a statement on the issue that reads: ‘As John’s friends and family we felt strongly that an alternative narrative regarding the discussion between John and Shane J aired on Saturday night should be presented.

‘The motivation for this is that the way the conversation was presented on the show, the subsequent media coverage and the social media backlash have been highly distressing as the popular interpretation is completely out of keeping with our experience of John.

John explained his views on homosexuality to Shane J and fans were shocked at what they heard (Picture: Channel 5)

‘We have written this statement as our own interpretation of the events and acknowledge that we may be wrong but encourage those interested to consider these points before making their minds up.’

They then went on to say John’s comments were not a reflection of his own feelings but instead the ‘mentality that can cause some straight men to hold homophobic beliefs.’

The statement continued: ‘The initial comment which started the subsequent conversation with Shane J (‘Kick him out the club’) is far more likely a satirical comment on the barriers to sexual experimentation in young, straight identifying men than a statement of intent on John’s part, bad taste notwithstanding!

‘Indeed Shane J started the later conversation by acknowledging that the comments were “made in jest” but sought further clarification of his position.’

You can read the full statement below.

CBB's John Barnes' family released a statement after fans labelled him 'homophobic'

‘As John’s friends and family we felt strongly that an alternative narrative regarding the discussion between John and Shane J aired on Saturday night should be presented.

‘The motivation for this is that the way the conversation was presented on the show, the subsequent media coverage and the social media backlash have been highly distressing as the popular interpretation is completely out of keeping with our experience of John.

‘We have written this statement as our own interpretation of the events and acknowledge that we may be wrong but encourage those interested to consider these points before making their minds up.

‘It seems quite clear to us from the discussion as presented on the show that John is not offering the statements as reflections of his own feelings but an as explanation (but not justification) of the mentality that can cause some straight men to hold homophobic beliefs.

‘The initial comment which started the subsequent conversation with Shane J (‘Kick him out the club’) is far more likely a satirical comment on the barriers to sexual experimentation in young, straight identifying men than a statement of intent on John’s part, bad taste notwithstanding!

‘Indeed Shane J started the later conversation by acknowledging that the comments were ‘made in jest’ but sought further clarification of his position.

‘This interpretation is entirely in keeping with out experience of discussing similar topics with John and also with his approach to discussing racism in private and public.

‘John has always been interested in understanding the motivation behind various forms of prejudice rather than simply condemning it outright and shutting down any further dissection.

‘This has been his approach to discussions around racism consistently over the years and, from discussions we have had, we feel that he considers this to be a far more production route to resolving problems like racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia then simply virtue signalling and forcing the opposition into silence while not making them understand why their position is wrong.

‘Anyone who has seen John speak will know that he is not one for soundbites but prefers nuanced and detailed discussion, which of course can leave one vulnerable in the TV editing process.

‘When John acknowledges that “I cannot think that naturally”, mentions being a “product of his environment” and “things we know to be wrong, we can’t help thinking that” etc it seems far more likely that he is talking in a wider context about the influences behind prejudice in general rather than offering up an explanation for homophobic statements.

‘Having only seen an edited version of the conversation it is hard to be sure about this.

‘Thinking about the words John has used in this context, our feelings about the conversation are as follows.

‘There are two potential interpretations of John’s comments’

‘One is that, having privately and publicly spoken out against prejudice for many years he had a blind spot for prejudice on the grounds of sexuality.

‘He also has so little insight into this contradiction that he has chosen to voice these opinions to a gay man on national television and expects that it is satisfactory to justify them on the grounds that he is 54 years old, is a product of his environment and can’t help thinking the way he does.

‘An alternative explanation, which happens to tie in with our personal experience of John’s previously stated thoughts and feelings and also with his public stance on discrimination, is that he was critiquing the views that many people do hold and analysing the motivations and influences behind them.

‘We may yet be proved wrong and, on leaving the house, John may forthrightly confirm that he has secretly held these views and has chosen to use his platform on CBB to announce them to the world. Only time will tell.’

Got a story?

If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.